While it’s easy to find great food in Tokyo’s Ginza, Akasaka belt, hunting down those gems pretty much unknown to foreigners is that much more fun. Kenzan is one such jewel. Nestled in the prime residential district of Shoto, Kenzan offers its unique blend of Japanese fine dining with a delightful twist.
One of my favorite places to eat, on past trips to Perth was Harvest, a wonderful laid-back space in North Freemantle. Brunch at Harvest was a must on many a visit. Sadly, Harvest closed down in 2013. So, when I heard that owner Clint Nolan had opened a new place, this time in Northbridge, I marked it down as one of our possible must-try restaurants for our March 2014 trip. And then, later, when I started reading some of the early reviews and blog posts about Pleased to Meet You, it quickly became the one restaurant in Perth that I knew I simply had to try.
When I’m skimming through a dessert menu contemplating what to have, the words that make me stop browsing and come to an immediate decision are “sticky date pudding”. I see those three magic words and I’m done. I close the menu, order and impatiently wait to indulge in my dessert. It doesn’t help that my hubby is similarly, a sticky date pudding fanatic. This basically means we have plowed through a significant number of sticky puds together, and unfortunately, only a third of them were stellar, some were stodgy and hardly any good and startlingly, many fell downright flat. Recently, I stumbled upon a sticky date pudding recipe on Nigella’s site, and registered that it’s actually a really easy dessert to make! I tucked that thought at the back of my head, and a few days later, found a bag of dates in the pantry. You can all guess what happened next.
I try to eat clean and green most days. But there are times when even my steely resolve can’t trump the incessant, nagging craving for a big, decadent, juicy burger (one of my favourite foods). Since I don’t indulge in burgers that often anymore, it has to be a darn good one when I finally get down to it. The Privé Group has a burger joint, Roadhouse, one minute from my kids’ school. This is a blessing, for almost instant gratification when I need a hit, and a curse for my waistline. I have eaten there four times in total. Thrice in the last ten days. This can only mean one thing- Roadhouse serves really amazing burgers.
Oscar Wilde once said, “The man who can dominate a London dinner-table can dominate the world”. I reckon the same goes for brunches. After all, many famous people are known to have been late risers – for instance, Hitler was known to conduct very important meetings from his tub as he took his late morning bath… Ok, bad example. Moving on.
This is a public service announcement. If you are a noodle lover, if you are a local food addict, if you like spice, or hell, just like food in general, do yourself a favour and go check out Violet Oon’s Kitchen and order her Dry Laksa.
I don’t think we post nearly enough pictures of the food served during a meal. Take Sushi Sho for example. Of course, you have read Aun wax lyrical about this being his favourite sushi restaurant in the world. But wouldn’t it be nice to see a little more of what awaits you before you make that booking?
Singapore is currently enjoying quite the culinary renaissance. It feels like there are new restaurants and cafes opening weekly. And to be honest, I can’t even keep up with all these new places. Unfortunately, judging from my dining-out experiences over the past year, far too many newbies prize style over substance, i.e. while many of these new eateries look great and attract a growing pride of local hipsters, the reality is that their food is often both mediocre and very expensive. One restaurant that opened this past year, however, whose culinary program has continued to impress me is Bacchanalia, located (oddly enough) in the city’s Masonic Hall.
Dining at Iggy’s – Singapore’s award-winning restaurant that is on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants – is always a luxurious pleasure. Especially more so when I have followed the growth of the restaurant from its beginning. Recently, I had the privilege of savouring four sumptuous seafood creations. The oyster in Gilardo red cabbage with Cabernet Sauvignon soup was really impressive in its creativity, presentation and taste balance. Could have easily consumed a dozen… but the C.F.O. – that is my wife -reminded me of our sizeable mortgage repayments.
I am a total ice cream addict. On top of that, since my wife S makes some of the best ice cream I have ever tasted, in the years since she first bought her commercial ice cream machine, I’ve become a rather discerning (or spoiled depending on who you ask) ice cream lover. Which means that any new ice cream has to be pretty damned good if it is going to impress me. Which is exactly what the flavours I tasted from Singapore’s newest ice cream brand, The Inspired Chef, did.